Tag: Video Games

Hello everyone and good morning. The birthday of my favorite poet, Robert Frost was celebrated this past, last week of March so I thought we’d take a look at one of his poems, The Mending Wall.

It was one of Frost’s earlier poems published in 1914. It’s about two farmers and their annual spring meet up to repair the stone wall the separates their respective properties. The narrator is unsure if a wall is really needed feeling that it keeps people apart. The neighbor quotes the ideology of his father that “good fences make good neighbors.” Here’s the poem and happy Easter weekend to you all.

The Mending Wall

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors

Far Cry 5 was the most excited I’ve been for a new video game since the release of Mafia 3 in 2016. Despite my excitement, I was skeptical. Mafia 2 was one of my favorite games of all time and Mafia 3’s attempt to follow it up had fallen horrendously short and left me immensely disappointed. Far Cry 5 is in an almost identical situation: following up one of my favorite games of all time (Far Cry 4) and facing great expectations from the gaming community. The setup could not be better for Far Cry 5 to be a failure as well.

With that being said, I do not consider Far Cry 5 to be a failure at this point. It does, however, have some noteworthy problems. At the time of writing this article, I am approximately 4 hours of play time into the game. I have encountered several bugs that forced me to either manually restart missions or led me to an inevitable death that forced me to restart at a prior checkpoint. I can’t even begin to explain how frustrating this is, especially considering my next gripe with the game. The combat is very very challenging. While I must point out that I am used to Fortnite combat, which is a far cry different than that of Far Cry 5 (pun intended). But regardless, I found myself dying far more than I ever should as early as I was into the game. Perhaps the combat will get easier as I become more familiar. I simply wouldn’t be honest in giving my initial thoughts of the game if I didn’t mention that. My only other significant complaint about the game thus far is that the open-world concept that the game employs may be a little too open world, if that makes any sort of sense. The missions are entirely spread out throughout the immense map as of this point, the game doesn’t feel linear in the slightest. I feel as if I could do these quests in any order and the game would make just as much sense as it does now. It is worth mentioning again that I am only around 4 hours into a campaign that is said to be able to last up to 25 hours, so the story may line up more as time progresses.

Now that my issues with the game are out of the way, I can talk about the good. First off, I absolutely love the game’s concept. The idea of fighting a right-wing religious cult in the heartland of America speaks to me on a subconscious level. This fresh concept paired with the current real-world political climate make the game that much more enthralling. In addition to this, I find the game’s main protagonists, the 4 members of the Seed family, to be utterly brilliant. Each has their own twisted, semi-psychotic characteristics. This makes them extremely easy to hate, a quality which they share with Far Cry 4’s protagonist Pagan Min. The story, elevated by these great protagonists, has potential to be fantastic if executed properly. I look forward to seeing if the campaign meets its full potential. Before I wrap up my favorite parts of the game, I feel like I have to mention the Pee Tape mission. Early on in my play-through, I encountered a certain familiar CIA agent from past games in the series who had been tasked with recovering a videotape that was said to be greatly embarrassing to the in-game President of the United States. The subtle innuendos and references to the so called “Pee Tape” which is rumored to contain video proof of Russian prostitutes urinating on President Donald Trump are absolutely hilarious. I was so glad the game included a real-world reference like this, especially given its parallel to our current political climate. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I feel that the game has a lot of potential. With bug fixes certain to be coming in the form of updates and further plot development, it could really be something special. It may even have what it takes to beat out its predecessor. Once I finish the game, I will post a full review and give my final thoughts on it. This may come as early as next Wednesday, or as late as the following Wednesday. Regardless, you can rest assured that it is coming. In the meantime, check out some of the other great content put out by the Mid-American Culture crew. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday.

Hello all, and welcome back to the Mid-American page. This week I was playing a classic console with a classic game. The deadly combo of NCAA 2006 and the original Xbox is still an amazing one-two punch, and still presents a challenge. I made it to the National Championship with THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Yes, it was not hard making it to the national championship because Troy Smith, Anthony Gonzalez, Ted Ginn Jr., Nick Mangold, and Antonio Pittman. However, when I got to the championship, I was put up against the Texas Longhorns featuring, Vince Young.

“Now Derek, it is stupid to rage over a game that is twelve years old.” Let me start by saying, no the hell it is not. Vince Young is a God on there and nearly beat me. This experience made me think of my many raging experiences in video games and the athletes who did it and made me feel like these kids (WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE).

So without further ado, lets get into it.

Michael Jordan: NBA 2k11

Possibly my favorite 2K ever. The folks at 2K brought in these challenges involving Michael Jordan and to unlock his highly sought after shoes. However, when you were not using Jordan, playing against him was a pain in the ass. Jordan is the GOAT, but he does everything. Wanna hold him under 50? Forget about it. Wanna drive the lane and not get your shit sent to the third row? Forget about it. Wanna bring the ball up the court? Forget about it. Needless to say, they made Jordan definitely look like the GOAT in 2K11.

Michael Vick: Madden 2004

Man, back-to-back Mikes to start the list. You know the term, “You must have the sliders turned up?” Well, that is what it was like using cover athlete, Michael Vick in Madden 2004. Vick had a cannon for an arm and the speed of a cheetah on crack. Here is a video to show his dominance (do not mind the asshat in the video).

Kobe Bryant: 2K10

Kobe Bryant. Another guy people could argue to be the GOAT, and for those who do not know sports, merely playing NBA 2K10 would make it believable. Now, I suck ass with Kobe in every 2K, and I do not know why. However, when people used him against me, I was cooked. Kobe hits unbelievable shot after shot, and really makes you want to throw your controller through the TV.

Jason Giambi: MLB The Show 2006 and MLB 2K6

Since there are no pictures or footage of Giambi on the Show on the internet for some reason, you are just going to have to believe me on this one. Giambi is one of my favorite players of all-time. I remember whenever I received both the Show and 2K for my birthday. I instantly used my team (the Yankees) against my step dad’s team (the Red Sox). Giambi went five for six logging five home runs. This started my obsession with the game. Anytime Giambi gets a fastball, well you can forget about it.

LeBron James: Any 2K ever

Due to video games getting more realistic, LeBron is not as dominant as he use to be on 2K, but he is still hard to stop. I have used and played against people using LeBron in almost every single game he has been in. It is truly nothing to score a fifty piece with LeBron on these games. You only love him when you are using him, but throwing your TV out the window seems pretty reasonable whenever he is against you.

Tim Tebow: NCAA Football 2010

I was a huge NCAA Football video game lover, and spent many hours playing this game. Whenever I took my talents online and played, nothing made me more mad than some douche bag using the 2010 Florida Gators and Tim Tebow. You have to have no skill to use him. Just hold down the sprint button and occasionally hit the truck stick or B button and you are going to be competitive. This game started my unfair hatred for Tebow, but now, I think he is a pretty cool guy. Cut to the 2:30 mark for the run down on his skills.

Reggie Bush: NCAA 2006

I remember playing this game with my friends back in the day, and there was only one rule, nobody could use Ohio State or USC. The Ohio State rule was because we all loved Ohio State, but USC was because of Reggie Bush just being unfair. Bush was another player that required no skill to use.

I could honestly go on and on about players that were unfair to use in sports game, but these few were the ones who stuck out to me, but that concludes the list. As always, thank you for spending a part of your Friday with me and stay tuned for fresh daily content from myself and the rest of the Mid-American crew. If you have not checked out this weeks playlist, do it!

The genre of rhythm video games seems to have been dwindling in recent years. Guitar Hero and Rock Band, once a pair of mighty 3rd party series, faded into obscurity, only to get revival editions that not many people seemed to play, and even recycled songs that had already been featured in the series. I don’t think these series deserve to be left in the dust, however, but a little bit of innovation would help both series bounce back.

In honor of the recent release of Super Mario Odyssey (which I CANNOT WAIT to play!), I decided to count down my top 5 favorite Mario games. And by Mario games, I’m referring to main series games – not spinoffs like Mario Kart or Smash Bros. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Somehow the DC Universe fighting game has grown to encompass a magnitude of characters outside the traditional comic book realm of Batman and Superman. The game has already released DLC featuring Raiden from Mortal Kombat and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. It was a true surprise however to see this morning that Paramount has let their Ninja Turtles be used. The game has just moved up to a must buy in my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one but Hellboy and Donatello with Nightwing and Superman sets the bar to the moon. Check out the cool fighter pack reveals and thanks for reading and watch out for our weekly play list tomorrow.